Quincy, city, Norfolk county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S., on Boston Harbor, just southeast of Boston. In 1625 the site, which was settled by Captain Wollaston, was given the name Mount Wollaston, and a short time afterward, under the leadership of Thomas Morton, it was renamed Merry Mount; in 1627 Morton, an anti-Puritan, was exiled for celebrating May Day. Set off from Braintree and incorporated as a town (township) in 1792, it was renamed to honour Colonel John Quincy, a prominent local resident. Quincy is notable as the home of the celebrated Adams family. Adams National Historical Park (established as a national historic site 1946, redesignated 1998) preserves the birthplaces (formerly in Braintree) of the two U.S. presidents John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams and several other historic buildings; the crypts of the two presidents and their wives are in the United First Parish Church (1828), which is also in the park. John Hancock, the Revolutionary patriot, was also born in the portion of Braintree that became Quincy.

The city was once famed for its granite quarries, which supplied stone for King’s Chapel and the Bunker Hill Monument in Boston. It was also a major shipbuilding centre, but the shipyards were closed in 1986. Now, Quincy has a service-oriented economy, with finance, insurance, and real estate accounting for the largest share of employment. It is the seat of Eastern Nazarene College (1900) and Quincy (junior) College (1956). Inc. city, 1888. Pop. (2000) 88,025; Boston-Quincy Metro Division, 1,812,937; Boston-Cambridge-Quincy Metro Area, 4,391,344; (2010) 92,271; Boston-Quincy Metro Division, 1,887,792; Boston-Cambridge-Quincy Metro Area, 4,552,402.